Coming home from elementary school meant putting up with my mother telling me I would have to eat whatever my grandmother had made that day.
I was a spoiled kid who always put up a fight — I didn’t want to eat rice and chicken because “I have rice and chicken every day, Mom.” But of course, she would make me eat it regardless. How I wish I had been more grateful for those meals.
My favourite was biryani. Ironically, this is just yet another form of rice and chicken, but to me, something was different about this dish — I don't know what exactly, but I would scarf down my plate with no complaints.
It became my favourite comfort food, even later in life. After long days of school and commuting in the rain, the best thing my grandmother could tell me was that there was a bowl of biryani waiting on the table for me.
I didn’t fully appreciate my grandmother’s cooking until we had both grown much older. I now realize that time has taken its inevitable toll on her — for the past few years, I’ve had to do all the cutting and prep work for her so she didn’t agitate the arthritis in her wrists. Now, she barely cooks at all.
In high school, I started writing down some of her recipes. Unfortunately, I had to make up my own measurements since my grandmother usually went off instinct. “Andaaza ke sath, Aisha” — “just estimate.” She wasn’t always the most helpful, but I got the gist of things.
Many of my childhood favourites have become too taxing for her to make. She’ll still make a fuss about whether I’ve had enough to eat and always makes sure the fridge stays stocked somehow, but it isn’t the same.
I wish I hadn’t been such a little shit as a kid and eaten plates full of her cooking while I had the chance.
Instructions
Serves 3–5 people
- 1 kg chicken (any part is okay, but I use the thighs)
- 3 cups of rice
- 3 medium onions
- 5 tomatoes
- 5–6 green chilli peppers
- 2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste (or one teaspoon of each)
- One box of Shan biryani masala
- ½ of a red chilli pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 ½ teaspoon garam masala
Start by finely chopping onions and tomatoes. You should also start to make your rice, but don’t cook it fully — only about two-thirds of the way through.
Add oil and the onions to a pan on high heat, and when they start to brown, add the garlic and ginger paste. After mixing for a few minutes, add the chicken, then the salt, red chilli pepper, turmeric and garam masala. Stir for 4–5 minutes.
Once the chicken is cooked through, add the tomatoes, Shan masala and a ½ cup of water. Let most of the water evaporate. Then in a separate pot, add half of the rice, the chicken, then the rest of your rice. The chicken and rice are meant to be cooked together, and by putting the chicken in the middle, all the spices will become infused into the rice. Let that cook for another 10–15 minutes on medium heat.
In the meantime, cut up your green chilli peppers and some cilantro, if you have it. You can also add some plain yogurt if you’re not good with spice.
Sprinkle garnishes on top and enjoy!
Share this article
First online
Submit a complaint Report a correction
